by Celia Fenn

from StarChild Website

"Indigo Children" is the name given to a very special group of beings who have chosen to incarnate on our planet with a specific mission and purpose.

The name "indigo Child" refers to the soul color of Indigo, which indicates a Master Soul who serves as a teacher or healer. Every Indigo Child will undertake this mission of teaching or healing in some way, often merely by being who he or she is.

Indigos have been coming to our planet for a long time. Some argue that Jesus and Buddha were Indigos, since their mission, on a global scale, was to teach and heal, and to shift the consciousness of humanity.

In the recent past, Indigos began to incarnate on the planet in increasing numbers after World War II, in preparation for the global shift that we are now experiencing. They incarnated among the "baby boom" generation of the fifties and were born to the "flower children" of the sixties. However, at this stage there was not a sufficient number of them on the planet to create significant changes.

Then, in the 1970s, the first generational "wave" of Indigo Children arrived. These beings are now in their late twenties and early thirties, and are the real "warrior" generation who have begun the process of challenging and shifting old systems.

They were followed in the eighties and nineties by Indigos of increasing sensitivity and refinement, until the late 1990s and early 2000s when they were joined by the Crystal Children, a different kind of spiritual warrior.



How to Recognize an Indigo

I am often asked in the course of my work how to recognize an Indigo.

The obvious answer would be to check the aura color. But no, not all Indigos have dark blue auras all the time. The term "Indigo" refers to a soul state and not to an aura color, which in the average human changes from day to day depending on mood and interest. Clairvoyants who read soul states may be able to identify Indigos.

However, it is easy to identify an Indigo by their sensitivity, creativity, spirituality and general behavioral patterns.

As children, they look much like other children, although they are often physically beautiful with penetrating eyes. They are always highly intelligent and full of questions and demands. They are energetic and active and have strong wills and a strong sense of their own value and importance. They know that they are special and that they are here to do something significant.

They are right-brain oriented, and are generally attracted to right-brain pursuits such as music, art, writing and spirituality. They love crystals and reiki and meditation and yoga.

They are very passionate and intensely loyal to their friends, of whom they often have many. They believe in honesty and communication in relationships. They are often baffled by dishonesty and manipulation and other forms of selfish behavior deemed normal by their elders.

Their attitude towards money is either to reject it as unnecessary or to be very aware of its power and to seek, often successfully, to create affluence for themselves.

A key feature of Indigos is often anger. They will not be ordered around by so-called "authority figures". On a deep level, Indigos do not recognize "authority". They know we are all equal, and so they are enraged by those who assume authority and behave dictatorially, whether they are parents, teachers or bosses.

This is where they are important as teachers - they are teaching us to own our own power and to respect ourselves, by not giving away our power to those who demand it.

They are teaching us further to value our creative and spiritual selves and not to place so much value on material success.



The Indigo Child

The Indigo as child is active, energetic and imaginative. They can entertain themselves and play in their own worlds for hours. They often have imaginary friends, and they love fairies and dolphins.

The boys often have more of a tendency towards hyperactive and disruptive behavior. This is probably culturally determined by our society's need to express male dominance, which is picked up by them at an early stage.

The exceptional intelligence of Indigos can be exasperating to adults. They will not be "told what to do", but will want to debate and negotiate every instruction. Until the parent learns that they are being taught to respect the child's right to choice, and honor that choice, they will continue to be confronted at every turn with power struggles and battles of will.

The correct way to handle an Indigo is to be willing to,

• negotiate

• explain

• offer choices

Bald instructions to "do as you are told" will only produce hostility or indifference.

Indigos often dislike school intensely. They are bored by the (to them) slow pace and repetitive tasks deemed suitable for children by teachers who do not understand their intelligence.

They battle with authority and peer pressure, which can be quite overwhelming to a young Indigo soul with little real understanding of the "power over others", dominance and submission states common to Earth society.

Problems experienced at school include ADD and ADHT, a result of boredom and irritation. Learning disabilities such as dyslexia often also reflect alternative ways of being and thinking used by Indigos.



The Indigo Adolescent

Like most adolescents, the Indigo will reach the state of puberty transition and become moody and inward as the body changes. However, at this stage, young Indigos often begin to see through the intense materialism and the victim dramas that form the basis of most adults lives in the modern world.

At this point they often "disconnect" from these lifestyles and opt for "alternatives" which they deem more meaningful or more fun or just plain challenging to adults.

Unfortunately, many of these include the drug culture and various trance parties that include chemically induced states of bliss that are short-lived and addictive.

At this point, the adolescent is expressing his or her anger and rejection of a system that offers nothing of value to the Indigo soul. Parents can take their children to Rehabilitation programs, but they really need to question why such intelligent and creative beings often seem to want to self-destruct.

Another form of self-destructive adolescent behavior occurs when the child takes on the values of the parents and seeks to overachieve. This can be frightening, as Indigos are by nature exceptionally gifted and talented.

These Indigos often develop phenomenal academic and technical abilities to gain recognition and success, but sacrifice emotional development which can be hugely damaging in later life when they seek to create meaningful partnerships.



The Young Indigo Adult

In their twenties and early thirties, Indigos usually fall into one of two groups.

The first group follows a "yuppie" path and creates affluence, usually through a career in IT or the Arts. They seek stable relationships and to have children and create families. But they battle with the demands and norms of the systems of marriage, family and employment. Their Indigo souls strive to express their essence and remain true to who they are while still achieving "success" as dictated by our culture.

The second group opts to "drop out", and often the individuals travel extensively, becoming a "global citizen" and battling to settle in any one place. These people often have no fixed career or work, and live an alternative lifestyle that includes drugs. While they often claim to be happy, they are also frustrated by their inability to be able economically to pursue the "normal" activities of creating a family and contributing to a community.

Both groups are attempting to redefine what it means to be an adult in the contemporary world, and to find ways of living their truth while still finding happiness and stability as adults.

They are the generation that is defining new choices and new options for adult life on the New Earth.



Systems Busting - Indigos and the Education System

The area of community life where Indigos have had the most effect is the education system. As mentioned earlier, Indigos are mostly right-brainers who are energetic and active. They dislike sitting still for long periods, being told what to do and being bored by repetitive tasks that fail to challenge them. Since this generally defines the school experience, it is obvious that Indigos will have problems and will cause problems.

The right-brain orientation means many indigos struggle to maintain interest and focus in a school curriculum designed for left-brain activity. Their need to express their energy in movement and to relieve their boredom means they are restless and can be disruptive. When they begin to fall behind their peers, they can become stressed and anxious.

The usual diagnoses given to Indigos are ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) and ADHT (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), which are regarded as "minimal brain dysfunction" disorders by medicine. The parent needs to choose between defining their child with a pathological label, or accepting that the child represents the next step in human evolution, and neither needs nor wants to spend 6 or 7 hours a day sitting behind a desk being told what to think.

Lets face it - the school system is dated and dysfunctional. Schools were originally designed to educate the children of the upper classes, who had the wealth and time to devote to mental pursuits as a sign of their superiority. Gradually, in the 19th and early 20th century, education became universal.

But what does the school system really do? Most Indigos agree that what is taught in school is rarely relevant to real life. It confines them to mental or "head" experience, and most Indigos want real life experience to be their teacher.

In addition, sitting behind a school desk for 6 hours a day is seen as no more than training to sit behind and office desk for 8 hours a day or more, and most Indigos have no interest in that life path.

Modern school classes in South Africa usually consist of 30 or so children and one teacher. The system functions because the children agree to be controlled by the teacher. However, as more and more Indigos say no, the system begins to falter.

Perhaps indigos are teaching us that there are better ways to learn. Perhaps, beyond a few hours a day of basic literacy and numeracy, the child of the future will choose projects to be pursued in the community under supervision of parents or teachers. These could be "real life" oriented, and be of benefit to both the learner and the community.

Meanwhile, more and more Indigos are saying no to formal school education.



Indigo Stories

These are real life experiences drawn from my work with Indigos.

I met Alison when she was 15 and had just dropped out of school. She was attractive, intelligent and sensitive. She came from an affluent family, her father being a respected medical practitioner.

Alison absolutely refused to go to school, and had become involved with drugs. Her parents, not knowing how to cope, were forced to allow her to leave school and to deal with her drug problem and her rebellion. She was placed in a drug rehab program.

She wanted to study Reiki and Healing with crystals, but was really too immature to be a healer.

Eventually she became a model, and was able to get work in London and Tokyo. She earned large sums of money and was able to travel the world. Being attractive, she had no shortage of male companions in her life.

How does one tell an Indigo like Alison that she needed to go the school? She plainly did not. She was able to live a life beyond what most people aspire to without spending years at school and university.

This is typical of Indigos: they work out the system and then use it to their advantage rather than being controlled by it.

Peter, on the other hand, went into a deep depression in his final year of school. He dropped out, not because of work pressure, but because he was able to see the futility and the illusion of the school system. His father was opposed, but his mother with whom he lived, was willing to allow his journey.

After several months of dealing with his depression, Peter decided not to return to school, but to pursue a technical diploma for which he did not need a school certificate.

This option gave him the time to research his other interests in life, alternative healing and healthier lifestyles.

A more tragic story is that of Jamila, a young Asian South African girl who also dropped out in her final year of school. In Jamila's case, her parents were academic high achievers, and Jamila in fact did buckle under the pressure to perform as well as the suppressed anger at her parents "absence" from her life while pursuing their careers.

She is immensely gifted, sensitive, and loving, as well as beautiful. But she developed an eating disorder as a signal that all was not right in her world.

Unfortunately, her parents adopted the "child as problem" approach, and sought to find someone to "cure" her. They were unable to understand that their own behavior and the system in which they thrived was inimical to their Indigo daughter and her gentle and sensitive approach to life

Then, on the lighter side, is the story of 4 year old Kim, who informed her mother that she was not going to go to school. She intended to be a mother when she grew up, and for that, she told Mom, she didn't need to go to school. Mother tended not to agree, and Kim was enrolled at the local Waldorf School.

The Waldorf and Montessori systems of education see to be the best available to Indigos at the moment.

Many Indigo parents are also going for the home schooling option, which allows for more flexibility of approach while still ensuring that the child gets the necessary education.



Systems Busting - Indigos and the Medical System

Another area where Indigos are making their presence felt is with the medical system. This is as a result of the medical diagnoses of ADD and Hyperactivity, or "minimal brain dysfunction". Medical science's answer is a drug - usually Ritalin, sometimes Prozac.

I have seen a child as young as seven on a medically prescribed anti-depressant. I have heard a respected pediatrician recommend that children as young as three be put on Ritalin.

There is much debate about the pros and cons of Ritalin, and I am not going to go into that here. Suffice to say that Ritalin is a drug of the amphetamine stimulant class. It has side effects and withdrawal symptoms, and is also addictive if misused.

The significance of this debate in terms of Indigos, is that many people are now questioning a medical system that drugs small children with stimulant drugs that alter brain chemistry as a way of coping with behavior that doesn't conform to the "norm" of the "average child".

In my work with children I have encountered children that range from gifted and "brilliant" to those who are autistic and learning disabled. In this journey, I have come to believe that there is no such thing as the "average child". Each child is like a snowflake - unique and individual, with its own needs and desires.

Yet the education system is geared to the "average child", and if a child does not conform to this model they are drugged into conformity.

Dr Peter Breggin, an American psychiatrist who is anti the use of Ritalin, points out that what is defined as ADD or ADHD is just the manifestation of a child that functions at "one end of the energy spectrum" - the high end!

People who work with Indigos prefer to call these children "kinesthetic learners", and to suggest that they need modes of learning suited to their energy levels, rather than Ritalin.

Diet has also been shown to have a major effect on children. The stimulants in caffeine, refined sugars and food additives, all have a negative effect on children who are already high in energy. Eliminating these foods and concentrating on fresh and organic foods has been known to help to balance over-stimulated Indigos. Many Indigos, in fact, prefer this kind of diet if they are allowed access to it. But, busy parents often aggravate the problems by feeding their children processed and convenience foods which upset their sensitive systems.

Indigos are teaching us once again of the importance of holistic living, natural therapies and healing, and natural, unprocessed food.

They are also challenging a medical system that sees pharmaceutical drugs as "magic bullets", regardless of the consequences and side-effects.



The Unhappy Indigo

If Indigos are given the opportunity to express who they are, if they are honored and respected, they can become highly sensitive, loving and gifted people. If not, they tend to become self-destructive and dysfunctional.

The high incidence of drug abuse, eating disorders and dysfunctional behavior among Indigos is an indicator that the way we live is dysfunctional.

Please, Never Tell them they're Not Good Enough.....

Indigos are born with a strong sense of "mission". They are the spiritual warriors of the Indigo Ray. They know they have something really special to do on this planet.

Yet, from the moment they arrive, they are bombarded with negative messages that affect their self-worth. From the time they begin to walk, there is a constant "don't do this/don't do that", to messages that say "you are stupid". I have seen a four year old who informed me that she was, unfortunately, stupid. How damaging this is, especially to an Indigo.

If an Indigo is made to feel worthless and not good enough, they tend to feel that they are failures. They have failed at their mission, and this makes them depressed, angry, neurotic and self destructive.

So please, if you parent or care for an Indigo, make sure you are affirming of their value and worth. Respect them for who they are, no matter how different they are to you. Children are not meant to be clones of their parents, or to carry the aspirations of the parent.

Allow them to be who they are, and they will flourish and thrive.



More Indigo Stories

I have worked with many Indigos, to help them to balance their lives and be successful.

Nine year old Sonya came to me with intense eczema all over her body. She was sleeping badly and was anxious and depressed. I referred her to a homeopath for treatment for the eczema. The homeopath used homeopathic and naturopathic treatments together with diet.

When I worked with Sonya I used Energy Balancing, crystals and visualization techniques to help her. After several months, her mother reported that the eczema was nearly completely cleared, and that she was happy and enjoying her life.

Twenty-four year old Lara came to me in a deeply depressed state. She was unemployed, despite being a qualified artist. She wept her way through our initial sessions. I worked with her intensively over a period of a bout 18 months, seeing her once a month. We used Emotional Clearing and Regression techniques, together with Energy Balancing and Crystal therapy.

Lara found a job that suited her talents, and eventually moved on to one that included traveling.

She was thrilled at the shifts and changes in her life as a result of the spiritual work. In addition, her social life improved and she left her mother's home and began sharing a house with a friend.